March 31 - Hezekiah

March 31 - Hezekiah - Isaiah 38:1-39:8

Before Sennacherib actually ended up outside Jerusalem's walls, Hezekiah fell ill and nearly died. Because he was relatively famous throughout the region (2 Chron. 32:23), when he regained his health, the king of Babylon sent envoys to him. Hezekiah showed them everything! He was very proud of his wealth. This happened before the invasion by Sennacherib.

Isaiah was certain that they came to see everything so that they could report back to their king on Hezekiah's wealth. Hezekiah was very close to making a deal with them to offer more protection against Assyria. His pride forced him to show off, but he retained his sense and did not bind a relationship with them. (Isaiah 39:1-8)

When Hezekiah was sick, the Lord told him to be prepared to die. But, he begged for more time and the Lord responded. Not only did he offer him 15 more years, but he promised Hezekiah that the Assyrians would not take Jerusalem (Isaiah 38:1-6)

With this, Hezekiah penned a Psalm (Isaiah 38:9-20). He learned to understand the preciousness of life (Isaiah 38:10-12), he learned how important prayer was (Isaiah 38:13-14) and he gained a greater understanding of his position in life ... he would walk humbly and learn to praise the Lord (Isaiah 38:15-20).

Hezekiah was given more time ... and he brought glory to the Lord with those additional years. His years on earth allowed Judah a time of peace. That peace would end when Babylon came in and took the Jews into exile. Hezekiah's temple was looted ... everything was taken. But, for now ... peace.

Tomorrow, we will leave Isaiah for a time and move to the New Testament. But, I will come back this summer and move through the rest of this book. In it we will then meet the suffering servant (Jesus). Warren Wiersbe calls the second portion of the book of Isaiah its 'new testament' portion. The grace of God is emphasized and there are many references to the Messiah ... Jesus Christ. Isaiah looks far into the future and sees the time of Babylonian captivity and the release of the Jews back into their homeland. We will finish this book and fall in love with Isaiah all over again!